More than a dozen men have accused Spacey of sexual assault in the wake of an October expose by Buzzfeed which saw actor Anthony Rapp allege the Oscar winner tried to force himself on him when he was only 14 years old.

Rapp’s allegation dates back to 1986, when he was a child actor earning praise for a Broadway run of the play Precious Sons. Spacey, then a relative unknown, was also on Broadway at the time, and Rapp alleges that Spacey invited him to attend a party he was hosting in his Manhattan apartment.

Arriving at the party alone, Rapp says he found he was the only non-adult in attendance, and spent most of the evening sat in a bedroom watching television.

As the party ended, Rapp alleges that Spacey appeared in the room visibly drunk and moved towards him.

“He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me,” Rapp alleged to Buzzfeed.

“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp continued. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”

Rapp said he was able to break free, fleeing the apartment.

“The older I get, and the more I know, I feel very fortunate that something worse didn’t happen,” he said. “And at the same time, the older I get, the more I can’t believe it. I could never imagine [that] anyone else I know would do something like that to a 14-year-old boy.”

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I’m beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” Spacey said.